Stove



Patented Jan. I7, I899.

E. FALES.

STOVE.

(Application filed Dec. 7, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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I wug "j A TTOHNEY,

EDWARD FALES, OF lVINlHROP, MASSACHUSETTS.

STQVE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 617,727, dated January17, 1899. Application filed December 7, 1897, Serial No. 661,052. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD FALES,a citizen of the United States,residing at Winthrop, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStoves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to heating apparatus,

and it has reference particularly to such heat-. in g apparatus in whichcoal or analogous substances are burned as the fuel.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a stove of aconstruction that will improve and tend to materially perfect the"combustion of the fuel that is to be burned in said stove and that willaiford a maximum amount of heat for a comparatively small amount ofradiating-surface.

My invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure l is a vertical sectional view of the invention. Fig. 2 isa horizontal sectional view of the stove-body, taken just above thefuel: support. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of astove-body provided with a modi-' fication of my invention, and Fig. 4is a perspective viewof an element which I term a retarder-plate.

Like numerals of reference represent corresponding parts on thedrawings.

In said drawings, 1 represents the body of the stove, which is made ofsheet metal and which is preferably of cylindrical form,though bolted orotherwise secured.

At the front of the stove and conforming to the shape thereof is securedin any desirable manner a frame -7, to which are hinged three doors 8 010, which are the fuel-supply, poker, and ash-pit doors, respectively,and which registerwith cpenin gs that are provided in the wall of thebody of the stove. Bolted or riveted on the inside'of the stove oppositethe poker-door are angular lugs 13, supporting on their top edges anannulus 14, forming an overhanging led ge,which annulus may loosely inproximity to but not in contact with the The annulus 14 therefore pro-,.jects considerably over the edge of the plate stove-wall.

16. To insure the seating of this disk in such a position that thesurrounding space will be approximately uniform, severalradially-projecting and integral lugs may be provided, and such lugsappear in the drawings, where they are indicated by the numeral 17. The

upper surface of said disk 16, which, as is obvious, is intended toserveas the fuel-support, should be arranged approximately in the planeof the bottom of the poker-doc; in order that the fuel and the refusethereof supported by said disk may bereadily accessible by means of apoker inserted at the poker-door. Above the fuel-supply inlet isarranged another disk '19, which constitutes what I have termed aretarder-plate, and which is so secured in position by means of a seriesof radial projections 19, that are bent downwardly and fixed to the wallof the stove, as to leave an annular space between its edge and saidwall. and the retarder-plate 19 thus divide the space inclosed by thestove-body into three chambers, which are an ash-pit, acombustion-chamber, and a heat-radiating chamber. 1 have found that thecombustion-chamber should preferably be the smaller of the threechambers, and hence the f uel-support and the retarder-plate are shownas arranged close enough together to this end.

From the top. of the heat-radiating chamber leads a suitable dischargefor the products of combustion.

The annular space which surrounds the re tarder-plate is so proportionedwith reference to the combustion-chamber that while permitting theincombu'stible and highly-heated products of combustion to escape theoutflow The fuel-support 16 Y of the still uneonsumed gases is at leastretarded.

In so far as the use of an imperforate form of grate is concerned theoperation of this stove is the same as the operation of the furnacesdescribed in Letters Patent Nos. 584,815 and 564,816, issued to me June22, 1897. In the case in hand, however, since it is practicallyimpbssible, owing to the construction of the stove, to augment theproper union of the air and gases by directing the former over a heatedsurface from which bodies of the latter are rising it becomes necessaryto give the air that has already been in contiguity to the fuel aredirection toward the same, so that it may thus become thoroughlymingled with therising gases. The function of the retarder-plate willtherefore be now recognized. This plate is arranged with a view not onlyto redirecting the rising bodies of air at such a distance from thegrate that they will accomplish the desired object, but also to reducingthe size of the combustion chamber, so that the'suecessful diffusion andeommingling of the air and gases will take place in a comparativelysmall space. By confining the operation which takes place within thelarge combustion chamber of either of the furnaces disclosed in mypatents referred to above to the relatively small space contained withina cylindrical stove of the type illustrated in my drawings I secure avery considerable increase of heating capacity from a stove of thisclass.

If the retarder-plate were not employed, the height of thecombustion-chamber would have to be increasedfar beyond the desirablelimit in order to secure the necessary diffusion and comminglin g of thevarious gaseous elements; but by using said retarder-plate I cause thesaid gaseous elements to reverberate within the combustion-chamber, thusproducing innumerableeddies and counter-currents and a consequent andthorough admixture of all the bodies of gas which, if not turned backupon their courses, would be likely to pass away from the apparatuswithout being chemically united with other bodies of gas, forwhiclnunder a sufficiently high degree of heat, they have great chemicalalfinity.

I am aware that it is old to provide combustion chambers withdeflectors, so that the products of combustion may be detainedwithinsaid chambers until a large portion of the heat which they holdhas been absorbed by the apparatus, and thus made effective for heatingpurposes, and such deflectors I do not claim or regard as within thescope of my invention. 'lhcse deflectors have heretofore always beenused with a grate that is pro- 'vided throughout the whole or a portionof its areaQwi th air-inlet openings of one shape or another, throughwhich the air passes to the solid pieces of fuel which the gratesustains.

According to the principle of my invention it is imperative that thefuel-supporting element should he of such a character as to prac ticallyexclude air from the main body of the solid fuel. The admission of airis confined to the marginal edges of the body of said fuel, so thatwhile certain portions thereof are being rapidly consumed other portionsare suf fering destructive distillation only, and. thus supplying thecombustion-chamber with considerable bodies of inflammable gases.

If anordinary grate were employed in the "apparatus which I haveillustrated, a much larger volume of combustible gases would begenerated and could not be perfectly consumed within thecombustion-chamber of the apparatus; but by utilizing the imperforatefuel-support instead of such a grate the Vol umes of combustible gasesand of air are so proportioned thatpraetically all of said gases areperfectly consumed below the level of the retarder-plat-e.

As far as I understand the workings of my apparatus it is not absolutelynecessary that the air should be admitted at the margin of thefuel-support. If the f uel-su pport has relatively large imperforateareas and the flow is confined to the limited areas of the solid fuel,the objects at which I aim will be attained. My invention istherefore'so broad as to include any kind of combustion apparatus inwhich the combustion-chamber approximates equal vertical and lateraldimensions and which includes an imperforate fuelsupport and means foradmitting a limited supply of air to the space above said fuel- ICCsupport, as well asa retarder-plate that is without interfering with thenecessary escapeof the products of combustion to an abnormal extent.

I do not deem it necessary that an apparatus falling within theprinciples of my invention should operate in such a way as to confinethe zone of combustion to the space below the retarder-plate, because inany apparatus whatever it is difficult to draw a sharp line ofdemarcation between the combustionchamber and the outlet-passage of theapparatus; and, so if flame is observed in the space above theretarder-plate it should not be concluded that the operations which Iregard as essential are not being, performed within the space below saidretarder-plate.

The preferred form of the apparatus is that shown in the drawings ofthis application, wherein the air is admitted only at the margin of acircular fuel-support. The effect of this construction is to surround abody of combustible gases with a substantially cylindrical and thin wallof air, through which the body of gas will have to pass before it or anypbrtion thereof can escape into the exitflue. It is practicallyimpossible for any particular body of gas to pass from the point ofgeneration out of the apparatus without being diffused into some portionof the cylindrical wall of air or some detached body of air. All the airwhich enters the combustionchamber is heated by direct impact upon theigneous fuel lying at the margin of the fuelsupport, thus preventing thechilling influences which frequently prevent the union of elementswhich, if sufiiciently heated, have a great chemical affinity for eachother. The body of fuel thus lying at the margin of the fuel-supportdoes not utilize all of the air 7 that is brought in contact therewith.Portions of the inflowing air do support combustion in this marginalbody of fuel; but other portions are merely heated upon contacttherewith and, as indicated, flowinto the combustion-chamber toafterward mingle with the gases generated by the process of destructivedistillation.

Although the annulus 14 may be considered as a special and independentmeans for imparting an inward movement to theincoming air after the samein entering'the com.- bustion-chamber has passed through the inlet thatsurrounds the fuel-support, it is ob vious that the said inlet may beconsidered as extending as far. as the inner edge of the annulus and astherefore being such an inlet or duct as will of itself impart thedesired inward movement to the incoming air without any other means foraccomplishing this.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. In a heating apparatus, means for introducing the air for combustionat or near the edges of the body of fuel and on all sides thereof, meansfor causing the air to move inwardly over the body of the fuel and meansfor retarding and causing the gases to return upon themselves,substantially as described.

2. A cylindrical heating -st0ve having a circular imperforatefuel-support arranged therein and spaced from the wall thereof to forman annular air-passage, means for directing the air inwardly from saidair-passage, and a retarder-plate situated above said fuel-support,substantially as described.

3. A-cylindrical heating-stove having a circular imperforatefuel-support therein and and above the water-box, substantially as describedi' g 5. In a combustion apparatus, the combination withthecombustion-chamber, of a substantially imperforate fuels'upport and aretarder-plate arranged in said chamber, the latter being above theformer and spacedfrom the Walls of said chamber, and an air duct orducts surrounding said fuel-support and adapted to direct the airinwardly toward the centerof said combustion-chamber, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I ai'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDXVARD FALES.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, JOHNSON HELLER.

